African News: Ghana To Initiate Wave Technology

To have renewable energy, the wind and solar have been exploited. Recently, wave technology is being initiated on the coastline of Accra, Ghana’s capital city. Yam Pro energy, an Israeli- based company is set to build the plant on the coastline.

The oceans which cover 71% of the earth is environmentally friendly, and the waves can be used produce huge amounts of hydraulic pressure to convert it into electricity. The company believes that this is the “best choice in renewable energy systems.” Part of the machinery, known as wave breakers on the coastline will be connected to floaters. The floaters will be moving up and down on the water surface as the waves crash in.

The company’s CEO, Zeev Peretz argues that though the setup is expensive, however, the running and maintenance costs are low. Which can provide electricity for up to 10,000 houses. The company has teamed up with the local companies and secured its power purchase agreement (PPA) from the local electrical company.

The greatest challenge, however, is if there’s change in the weather like the appearance of a storm. To this the CEO has explained that the floaters can be pulled out both for maintenance, and for rough weather conditions. Mark Jacobson, director of The Solutions Project has supported this project. But he also pointed out that although wave technology can be used, it can’t be used as much as solar and wind technology. This can be due to the fact that this technology can be used on coastlines only. Then what would happen to the rest of the country? The answer to this is that it can complement the other renewable energy sources.

Jacobson also predicted that if Ghana depends totally on 100% renewable energy sources by 2050, wave energy will account for 14% of it.